THE PROJECT: The Circus Oz Living Archive: developing a model of online digital engagement for the performing arts.
PhD Scholarship (Computer Science) – Thesis-based, 3 years, to commence first quarter 2011, tax-free stipend of AUD26,669 per annum.
As a PhD candidate on this ARC funded project commencing in early 2011 you will be supervised by Associate Professor James tom and co-supervised by Dr. David Carlin the project leader. The computer science research will include building a content based video retrieval system using public domain software, and investigating how the content based video retrieval may be supplement the archival metadata and social tagging as search mechanism.
Possible specific areas to explore may include:
1. Suitable techniques for automatically fragmenting videos into meaningful shots for subsequent search and categorization identified and applied.
2. Preliminary video search and content-based image retrieval (CBIR) tools developed for trial in the prototype beta version.
3. Facility for user community tagging of shots / videos incorporated into first beta release of prototype system, as well as search capability based on both user community tags and authoritative metadata in video archive.
4. Enhancement and evaluation of algorithms for automatically fragmenting the videos into meaningful shots of distinct circus acts, especially as applied to the more recent digital footage.
5. Further development, evaluation and comparison of several user search and exploration interfaces with particular emphasis on supporting and supplementing both the authoritative metadata and the community tagging.
6. Further development and evaluation of video retrieval of individual circus acts using techniques that combine content-based image retrieval of keyframes with authoritative metadata and community tagging.
As this position is situated within the Circus Oz, Living Archive research project, the successful application will collaborate with a media and communication PhD candidate as we work towards the creation of the Living Archive. As such the media and communication candidate will complement your area of expertise in the project and focus on developing innovative approaches to social media in the context of online video and performing arts audiences.
This PhD scholarship provides a tax-free stipend of AUD26,533per annum for three years. There are also limited funds to support the candidate is disseminating their research outcomes throughout their study program in conjunction with the other project researchers. The position is full time, and is based at RMIT’s city campus, in Melbourne, Australia.
